1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automatic analyzers for clinical laboratory tests, and to methods of operating such an automatic analyzer. More particularly, the invention is directed to diluting a parent sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
In automatic analyzers for clinical laboratory tests, reduction in the amount of reaction liquid to be used for analysis is required for reduction in running costs associated with laboratory tests. The amount of reaction liquid is proportional to the amount of sample to be used for the analysis. To reduce the amount of reaction liquid, therefore, it is absolutely necessary that the amount of sample be reduced to a very small level. At the current technical level of sampling, however, significant reduction in the amount of reaction liquid is difficult since quantitative minimization of sampling has its limit.
Accordingly, microsampling generally uses sample dilution. JP-A-08-194004 proposes a method of diluting a sample.